Pedestrian death prompts call for crosswalk

HOLMES BEACH – Police Chief Bill Tokajer is calling for a crosswalk near where an 80-year-old Canadian tourist and her husband were hit by a car last week while crossing the street at 5600 Gulf Drive. The woman later died from her injuries.

According to a Holmes Beach police report, Marion Timmons and William Timmons, 79, were crossing the street when a southbound vehicle driven by Tracey Leigh Thompson of Anna Maria ran into both of them. Police said the two were not in a crosswalk. Thompson told police she didn’t see the couple until it was too late to stop. A witness in a condo balcony said he saw William Timmons try to hurry his wife across the street, but they could not get out of the way.

They were taken to Blake Medical Center for treatment, where Marion Timmons later died.

The police report said Thompson was not considered to be at fault in the accident.

Tokajer was back examining the scene Monday morning. He said he was going to ask for the Florida Department of Transportation and Island cities’ engineer Lynn Burnett to consider putting in a crosswalk near that location. Police said the accident victims were crossing the street at a curve in the road.

“There’s nothing there now,” Tokajer said. “It (a crosswalk) would have to be far enough from the curve to not cause an accident and close enough to give people a safer way to cross Gulf Drive.”

He urges pedestrians to use crosswalks when crossing the street and to wait until they know that the driver approaching the crosswalk is going to stop before crossing.